When members of the opposition and the ministers from the former rebel movements have refused to take part in the government of national reconciliation since March 25th, 2004, when the repression by the governmental forces of the opposition manifestation lead to the death of more than a hundred people (1), the signature of the Accra agreement by all the parties to the conflict is an important step towards the establishment of civil and social peace in the country. This agreement provides inter alia a reform of the eligibility conditions of the Article 35 of the Constitution, with the view to the presidential elections planned for October 2005.
However, the FIDH, the LIDHO and the MIDH recall that the restart of peace process cannot be done to the expenses of the fight against impunity. In this respect, the FIDH, the LIDHO and the MIDH are deeply concerned about the discovery by the UN Operation in Ivory Coast (UNOCI) of three open graves of about hundred dead bodies in Korhogo, zone under rebellion control, situated in the north of Ivory Coast. The bodies would be those of victims of the confrontation between two rival groups of the rebellion on last June 20th and 21st. The FIDH and its member organisations ask that light be shed on these murders and call upon the international investigation Commission created under the aegis of the United Nations to identify the responsible persons. The FIDH, the LIDHO and the MIDH call upon the Ivorian authorities to sue and punish the perpetrators of these murders, in the respect of the international human rights provisions.
Moreover, the FIDH, the LIDHO and the MIDH call upon the international investigation Commission to shed light on all grave human rights violations committed since September 19th, 2002, in compliance with its mandate.
Recalling that the country is experiencing a bloody conflict since almost two years, the FIDH, the LIDHO and the MIDH call upon all the parties to the conflict to do everything possible to establish peace as soon as possible, in order to put an end to the civil population’s pain, first victim of the conflict.
(1) See FIDH press releases dated March 24, 25 and 30, 2004.